With the advent of miniaturized electronics, the use of hand held computers and other such miniaturized electronic devices such as portable radio transceivers, has become widespread. One example of such use is in the field of recording readings from utility meters.
In the past, meter readers manually recorded the readings from each utility meter (gas, water, electric, etc.) on a card or form for later entry at a central office for customer billing at a later date. More recently, computers have been developed which are capable of storing on the order of a thousand meter entries, complete with customer addresses and/or other information. While this has simplified the job of the meter reader considerably, there are still frequent occasions in which it is necessary to enter data by hand on a card, such as when it is not possible to access a given meter for some reason or another, so the card may be completed by the customer.
The first generation of such computers for recording meter readings was sufficiently large that it also served as a convenient writing surface for such manual entries. (Typically, such computers are provided with a membrane type keyboard, over which it is possible to write on card stock type material without making accidental entries on the computer.) In fact, such computers were provided with attachment means for a strap or straps so the computer could be supported more or less horizontally from around the neck and/or shoulders of the user.
Recently, however, such computers have been further miniaturized to the point that they now measure only approximately four inches or less in width. No attachment points are provided for the attachment of any support means, other than a small strap which may be secured around the hand of the user. This results in a very cumbersome operation, particularly when the user must search for a particular key for access to an inside meter, fill out a card or other form, etc.
The need arises for a computer holder device in which such a computer may be held or stored, and which in turn may be supported from the user's body by straps or other means, thus leaving both of the user's hands free. The holder should also provide a sufficiently large surface in combination with the surface of the computer, to allow for use as a writing surface. Storage space for postcards, writing implements, etc. should be provided for greater utility. Finally, the holder must provide clear access to the keyboard of the computer for data entry, While at the same time securely holding the computer in place.